Preservation
by Usami
Summary: The only thing stronger than the Kratt Brothers' desire to protect the animals...is their desire to protect each other.
1. Chapter 1

I've been itching to write this _Wild Kratts _chapter story for a while, but I've always held it off because I wanted more episodes to air before I attempted it. But seeing how long it takes them to _show_ new episodes, I decided to just go for it anyway. Hope it'll be all right.

Enjoy!

**Preservation**

Looking over his plans once more, Zach knew that his genius would never be questioned again.

Granted, its overall success relied on quite a number of variables, but he wasn't concerned. He had no doubt that things would fall into place without a hitch. Besides, getting to his goal would be half the fun.

And he was definitely going to have fun with this.

Because they had all been a pain in his side for far too long…always messing up his plans and getting in his way. Those darn Wild Rats and little Miss Know-It-All Aviva. How dare they think they were smarter than him…that they were _better_ than him?

Well, he would show them. This time, he would show them all.

* * *

><p>Chris panted as he furiously flapped his wings, pushing himself to his fastest limit. He wasn't particularly tired – at least, not <em>yet<em> – but he simply had to hurry if he was going to beat his older brother this time.

"Gotta hurry," he said, trying to encourage himself. "Gotta find those horses before Martin does."

In the steppes of Mongolia, the Wild Kratts team was on a search for a herd of Przewalski's Horses. Unlike the more common feral horses, such as the Mustang of North America, the ancestors of Przewalski's Horses were never completely domesticated, making them the only true "wild horses" left in the entire world. But they were such rare animals, making them very difficult to find.

Of course, that didn't stop the Kratts from having some _fun_ trying to find the horses. That morning as they were setting out, they decided to see who could find a herd of the wild horses first. Each brother would use a different mode of transportation to travel the grasslands, and the first to report the location of the Przewalski's Horse was the winner.

Chris had opted for locating the horses by air…mostly because Martin had already called dibs on using the Createrra. The older brother thought that searching along the ground made the most sense when looking for a running animal. And Chris didn't necessarily disagree with that logic. He was just hoping that he would be able to spot the horses sooner than Martin up in the sky.

It would normally work…if he was using a machine that could fly faster than he was at the moment. But to make the competition more fair (although Chris was still quite sure this _wasn't_ fair), it was decided that he couldn't use something that was faster than the Createrra. Up in the air, he could already see more than Martin could. So he had to use something that moved as fast as their terrain vehicle – or even something slower – to balance out the difference.

And what better way to do that than by flying with his own strength?

Well…_technically_ he was using the Creature Power Suit. But still, even though the suit provided him with the wings and the ability to fly, he was still using his own muscle and energy in order to pump his feathery appendages. And he had to fly hard if he had any hopes of beating Martin.

Because their usual choice of a creature-powered flight was the peregrine falcon, that could be found anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, there _were _no peregrine falcons at their current location. The steppe was just not hospitable enough for the bird of prey.

There _were_, however, plenty of Rock Pigeons to be found…

Chris huffed; the effort it took to maintain his current speed was beginning to take its toll on him. But he couldn't give up yet. Though he was hard pressed to answer his Creature Pod if someone tried to call him, the fact that no one _had_ yet meant that Martin still hadn't found the Przewalski's Horses either. Even flying at only 45 mph, there was still a chance he could find the horses before his brother did.

Still, if he was going to keep going, he knew he would need to take a little break. He was already nearing the end of his stamina, and he made an unsteady landing on a shrub just below him.

"Whew…" he breathed, pausing a moment to preen his wings. "I knew these horses would be hard to find, but I didn't know it'd be _this_ hard. I hope we find them soon."

He wasn't just talking about his challenge with Martin either (well, not _completely_). In truth, he was just eager to find them _at all_, even if his brother found them first. Despite all the information about horses that already existed, including information about Przewalski's Horses in captivity, the opportunity to see the true equines in the wild was simply too amazing to pass up. And to see them, to study them, to get to know them in their natural habitat would be incredible!

The Kratt Brothers also hoped to learn more about the creatures so they could help maintain, and with any luck even increase, their limited number. They were considered _critically_ endangered, as there were just over 1500 of the horses in the wild. At one time, the Przewalski's Horses were even considered _extinct_ in the wild – a status that was only changed a few years ago when some were rereleased in an attempt to save them. And the Kratts wanted to do everything possible to prevent their disappearance from happening ever again.

But there wasn't much they could do if they couldn't _find_ the horses. The small number of the wild equines stretched across a vast region of land made their exploration so much tougher, like looking for a needle in a haystack. And Chris knew he must have already been searching for hours; though there were plenty of pigeons in Mongolia, the territory of Rock Pigeons lay _just _outside of the territory of the Przewalski's Horses. So flying to the horses' territory after acquiring pigeon power took a great deal of time…possibly hours, in which Martin also hadn't found the horses either. Chris was beginning to wonder if they would _ever _locate a herd.

He shook his head. "I can't think like that," he muttered to himself. "Can't give up yet. We'll find them."

The words scarcely left his lips when suddenly the ground beneath him began to rumble. Startled, he looked up and spotted a cloud of dust across the distance, led by a large collection of galloping animals. Their pounding thundered across the grasslands as they ran, disjointed and frantic in their speed that Chris knew it was a stampede; whatever they were running from had them scared. And his eyes widened when he realized that they were charging in his direction.

Flapping his wings, he quickly took off in the air just as the group trampled over the place he had been. Watching the animals below him, he discovered with astonishment that the crowd was actually a whole herd of Przewalski's Horses!

"All _right_!" he exclaimed, flying in excited circles. "I found 'em! Wait'll Martin and the others hear about this!"

But then he paused, frowning as he hovered in the air. For further across the horizon, a column of thick black smoke rose into the sky. And it was too obvious that it was in the direction where the horses had come from.

As much as Chris wanted to tell the others about locating the horses, whatever was over there had frightened them and caused them to stampede. There was trouble, and he had to check it out in case it caused a serious threat to the animals. It was his job, if he truly wanted to protect them.

He knew, though, that there wasn't much he could do in pigeon mode, but he could at least scope out the situation. And he could get there faster if he flew, then he could call the others to inform them of the situation.

With that reassurance, Chris pumped his wings and flew towards the rising black pillar.

* * *

><p>A low hum suddenly reverberated throughout the area, but luckily for Martin the nearby horses only seemed slightly concerned before returning to their previous actions. Looking up, he grinned a little when he spotted the <em>Tortuga<em> as it began its descent. Still he kept his eye on the herd, hoping they wouldn't be too scared and run off.

The ship hardly touched the ground before the doors opened, and Aviva and Koki stepped outside. Martin couldn't help but notice the matching expressions on their faces, which he could only describe as eager.

"Hey, guys," he greeted as Jimmy finally stepped out with them. "Glad you could make it."

Quickly heading down the ramp, Aviva and Koki stood beside him on the grassy land just as a few horses ran by in a playful race, nickering and baying at each other.

"Wow…!" Koki said.

"They're so beautiful!" Aviva murmured. Martin could see the way the girls' eyes lit up, transfixed as they watched the horses.

Jimmy chuckled. "What is it with girls and horses?" he wondered, gently elbowing Martin.

The blue-clad Kratt simply grinned and shrugged. He really had no right to say anything, because he couldn't help agreeing with the girls.

Though he had to admit that he was a bit surprised; he of course found the horses remarkable, which is to be expected of both the Kratts, given their natural love of any animal. But he actually hadn't thought the girls would think so. Przewalski's Horses were a bit different than the horses that people were normally used to. The wild horses had shorter legs and stood at a smaller height, just a little more than four feet tall, and were of a thicker build compared to domestic and even feral horses. Their short manes resembled more of a Mohawk than the free-flowing manes of other horses, and also had shorter tails.

Then again, the entire _Tortuga_ gang was learning to more appreciate the look of a variety of animals, even those that most other people wouldn't consider really attractive. And with their golden-brown fur and light yellow-brown markings along the legs, belly, and muzzle, the Przewalski's Horses certainly had a beauty all their own. It was incredible to actually find these amazing and rare creatures, and Martin knew Chris would be just as excited as he was to get a chance to study them.

"Oh, that reminds me!" Martin said, turning to the girls. "Have you guys gotten in touch with Chris yet?"

Finally snapped out of their spell, Aviva was the first to answer Martin. "Not yet."

"We tried calling him," Koki added, "but he wasn't answering his Creature Pod."

"Really?" Martin frowned. He had also tried calling his brother earlier when he first found the horse herd, but likewise received no answer from the younger Kratt. And while he knew how difficult it was to answer their Creature Pod when in bird form, Chris _must_ have expected a call from them. Wouldn't he at least check-in with one of them sometime?

Aviva watched the blue-clad man carefully, noticing the worry etched in his features. "Think we should go look for him?" she asked.

He considered her question for a moment before brushing away his concern with a shrug. "If we go looking for him, we might lose the herd, and who knows if we can find them again?" Then he allowed a small grin. "Besides, I'm sure he'll turn up sometime."

The reassurance seemed to be enough for the others, as Aviva and Koki headed back inside the _Tortuga_ to get some equipment for studying the horses, dragging Jimmy along to help them. Normally Martin would have helped as well, but he lingered outside for a while longer. Despite his words, he still felt a bit uneasy, especially since the _Tortuga _relocated its position and Chris wouldn't be able to use the pigeon's homing power to find his way back to them. Who knows how long it would take for Chris to look for them before he finally found them?

Then again, if his younger brother called them, they would be able to get his location, and instead maybe they could go pick him up. Plus, Martin knew Chris was just as eager to see the Przewalski's Horses as he was, and Chris knew better than to ignore a call…let alone _two_ calls. It just wasn't like his little brother, who, among the two of them, was the more responsible one (though Martin would never admit so out loud). So what was keeping him?

His thoughts were interrupted by the drone of an engine echoing throughout the grasslands. Startled, Martin's eyes searched the sky until he found a familiar jet speeding towards their position.

Despite the roaring sound it made, though, Martin could still hear the _Tortuga's _doors hiss open. "Is that…?" he could make out Aviva's wondering voice.

"It's Zach," Martin confirmed. He would recognize that plane anywhere. He divided his attention between that and the horses, which started to grow restless as the black vehicle passed overhead and landed behind the _Tortuga_.

Martin and Aviva headed towards the Varmitech ship first, arriving as Zach sauntered outside lazily. His arms were folded behind his back, and Martin felt something unsettling about the smirk playing on the other man's pale face.

"Zach, what are you doing here?" Aviva demanded as Koki and Jimmy ran up behind them. "You better not be planning to do anything to these horses."

Zach scoffed. "What would _I_ want with a bunch of horses?" he retorted. But then he paused, his frown turning thoughtful. "Then again, I wonder if having something actually _horse_-powered might be useful…"

Martin cleared his throat, not wanting the inventor to get any ideas. "So what _are _you doing here, Zach?" he repeated, suspicion heavy in his tone.

Zach simply smiled. "Well, actually…I'm here to ask you for a favor, Martin."

Martin blinked wide eyes. "You want a favor from _me_?" he asked in disbelief. He certainly hadn't been expecting _that_, especially since he was sure the younger man hated him and his brother. And Zach _never _called him by name. It was always either 'Wild Rat' or 'Blue Boy'.

"Sure." Zach draped a thin arm across Martin's shoulders. "We've known each other for a pretty long time, right?"

"Yeah…" But if he remembered right, he was fairly sure that they hadn't gotten along as children, either.

"Well, the way I see it," the pale man continued, "since we _have_ known each other so long…instead of fighting against each other, we should _team up_ together."

Martin was actually having a difficult time processing what he was hearing, and a look towards Aviva showed that she was just as shocked as he was. "You wanna work _together_?" he asked, making sure he understood correctly.

Zach grinned. "Exactly. After all, you know a lot about little critters and things, and I thought you could use a _decent_ inventor to help with all the technology stuff."

Aviva huffed loudly. "Excuse me? What do you mean, 'decent' inventor?"

Martin frowned. "Well…" he began slowly. Despite all the things Zach had done in the past, neither of the Kratt Brothers really held a grudge against him. So the idea of working with Zach instead of fighting against him would really save them a lot of effort. And who knows? It might even help Zach lighten up a little, and maybe even get him to learn about and enjoy being with animals. But Zach's attitude and his implication of Aviva's talents kept him a little wary. "What's the favor?"

Zach pulled Martin in closer as he began in an overly-dramatic conspiring tone, "Well, I'm looking to gather some animals for an army I'd like to put together. And I just figured that your 'creature knowledge'," he emphasized with air quotes, "would make capturing the beasts so much easier."

Aviva and Martin exchanged disturbed expressions. "Seriously?" Aviva deadpanned. "_That's_ the 'favor'?"

Martin pushed the younger man off him. "Keep dreaming, Zach. There's _no_ way I'm doing that."

Zach staggered back, only kept from falling over by one of his Zachbots catching him. Dusting himself off, he surprisingly smiled. "Maybe I'll just give you some time to think about it."

Aviva placed her hands on her hips. "There's nothing to think about, Zach. The answer is definitely no."

"Just consider it. Oh, and take this…" Zach snapped his fingers, and the Zachbot beside him responded by rushing up to Martin.

Martin jumped back slightly, afraid the robot would run him down. But instead, the droid stopped in front of him, pulling out a small white rectangular box wrapped with a black bow. Unable to resist his curiosity, Martin took the small package, shaking it slightly. The contents rattled hollowly inside, and he stared at the offering.

Zach smiled, and something about it indicated that he knew something that he wasn't sharing. "Consider that a…token for my proposition." With that, he turned and began to head back to his jet, followed closely by his Zachbot. "You can even keep that if you still decide not to work with me," he called back as he walked away.

Aviva rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she muttered. "It doesn't matter what you try to bribe us with, Zach, there's no way we'd ever –"

"Zach…_wait_!"

Both Aviva and Zach turned sharply at Martin's words. But Martin wasn't looking at Zach's smug face, and he didn't see the shocked expression on Aviva's. He simply stared at the box in his hands, opened with the lid and ribbon fallen to the ground.

"Martin?" Koki said, noticing the tension in his shoulders that wasn't there previously.

"You okay?" Jimmy wondered.

Martin didn't answer. His attention remained focused on the container he held tightly in both hands. The others carefully drew closer as Martin reached into the box and pulled out what was inside. When he did, they gasped.

Their shocked expressions reflected back at them from the screen of Chris' Creature Pod.

_TBC_

Just a note: All the information about the Przewalski's Horse is stuff I found on Wiki, so apologies if I got any of it wrong. I just...kind of needed some padding, heehee._  
><em>


	2. Chapter 2

Hehehe...yeah, so it took longer to update this story than I thought it would. Uh...sorry guys. I had a bit of a difficult time writing this, but it got better after all those new episodes that premiered a while ago. Those really gave me some inspiration, and I was able to finish this up. Hopefully it won't take me so long to write the next chapter (but I make no promises).

Anyway, once again sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>Suddenly shoving the empty box and green Creature Pod into Aviva's hands, Martin stormed towards Zach, his body tense with anger. Unfortunately he couldn't get very far before the Zachbot blocked his path, hovering between him and its creator.<p>

Clenching his fists, Martin forced himself to calm down before he tried taking a swing at the robot. If he at least had a creature power, it would have been much easier to take the robot out and get to Zach. But on his own, he didn't have much of a chance against the machine.

So he simply glared at the Zachbot before him. But his next words were addressed to Zach. "Where is he?"

Just passed the robot, he could see Zach smirk. "He who?" he taunted.

Martin's eyes narrowed. He hated the idea of playing along with Zach, but he had a feeling that the other man wouldn't say anything unless he did so. So he slowly grounded out, "Where's _Chris_?"

Zach laughed. "Oh yeah, him. I might've seen the little birdie boy somewhere."

"What did you do to him, Zach?" Aviva demanded.

"Relax." He waved his hand in a careless manner. "I haven't really done anything that bad…_yet_."

The implication made Martin bristle, and the anger quickly gave way to fear when he considered what the other might do. "What do you _want_, Zach?"

"I already told you," the pale man huffed. "I'm planning on making an army of animals, and I want _you__ guys_ to get the strongest, toughest ones for me."

Aviva shook her head. "I knew it. All that nonsense about asking us for a favor and helping us in return –"

"Oh, no, I meant that." Zach's smirk seemed to grow. "Help me gather some critters for my army…and I'll make sure Green Guy gets back to you in one piece."

Something cold settled in Martin's stomach as he caught the threat in Zach's words, and he realized that the other man fully intended to carry it out. He swallowed hard. He knew he had to save Chris, but…could he really surrender the freedom and well-being of animals in order to do so?

"L…let me see Chris," he said suddenly, glaring over the robot at Zach.

The pale inventor frowned. "What?"

"I need to see Chris. I mean, how do we even know you _have_ Chris?" Martin shrugged. "Chris and I drop our Creature Pods all the time…"

"That's for sure," Koki agreed.

"So how do we know that you didn't just find Chris' somewhere and are just bluffing?" Martin crossed his arms. "Let me see him."

Zach scoffed. "What, you think I'm stupid enough to risk bringing him with me while I'm trying to negotiate with you?"

Martin's fingers drummed against his arm impatiently. To tell the truth, he had only asked to stall for time. He was hoping to come up with a plan, to find a way to save Chris without giving in to Zach's demands. Whatever suspicions Zach mentioned never even crossed his mind. Quickly glancing at Aviva, though, he could see that she clearly seemed to confirm those thoughts.

Noticing this as well, Zach glowered. "Well too bad, but he's not here. He's not even on the jet, so there."

Before Martin had time to wonder how much time it would have taken Zach to capture Chris and transport him somewhere else before coming back to confront them like this, Aviva countered, "Well then, how do we know if you're telling the truth?"

With a glare, Zach released an annoyed exhale. "Will you settle for a broadcasted image?" He snapped his fingers, and the Zachbot in front of Martin responded with a series of beeps. Then its eyes began to glow red as a beam of light shot out from them past Martin.

He spun around, looking up at the image that the robot projected. The light made the picture a little fuzzy, as if they were looking at it on an old screen. But even so, the brown hair, the face…the features of the figure projected were undeniable.

"Chris!" Martin's eyes were wide as he stared at the image of his younger brother, unconscious and appearing to be lying back on something. He scanned the picture, trying to see if his brother had any noticeable injuries. It was difficult to do, though, since the projection only showed Chris' upper body, but there didn't seem to be any major wounds.

He looked towards Aviva and noticed how slowly and carefully she pulled out her Creature Pod, doing her best to keep it hidden. And realizing what she was trying to do, he knew that she needed enough time in order to do it. He racked his brain, trying to think of a way to distract Zach.

"Wait a second," he said. "How do we know that's the _real_ Chris? How do we know it's not _just_ a projection and you're just trying to fake us out?"

Zach's brow rose in question, but he smirked. "What's a' matter? You mean you _still_ can't tell the difference between your own brother and a hologram?"

Martin winced at the mocking question, suddenly flooded with memories of the exact moment Zach was talking about. No matter how long ago that had been, and no matter how much both Chris and he laughed and played off the incident, the guilt he felt for being unable to recognize his younger brother continued to linger in the back of his mind. The knowledge that he had failed to protect his brother tore at him, and he had promised himself that he would do better…except now, it seemed it was happening all over again.

With a smug chuckle, Zach snapped his fingers again, and the image of Chris flicked and disappeared. Martin turned to Aviva, hoping that it had been enough for her to track the signal of the broadcast and find Chris' location. But judging by the frustrated expression on her face, he knew that she hadn't had enough time.

"So, Wild Rat," Zach said, forcing Martin's attention back to him. All traces of his faked formality were gone now that his hand was played, and he was back to his usual dark self. "What's it gonna be? You gonna help me or what?"

Martin hesitated, running his fingers through his hair as his mind and heart raced. Part of him was ready to jump at the chance, to agree to whatever the other wanted in order to find Chris and get him back safely. But knowing that would mean putting animals at risk, leaving them to someone who didn't care what would happen to them and letting him do who-knows-what with them…he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Martin?" Koki said, voicing the surprise they all felt that he was taking this long to decide.

"But…uh…Oh!" He looked towards Zach again. "We don't even have equipment to capture animals! How're we supposed to help you with that?"

Zach rolled his eyes. "Figures. But that's easy enough to fix with a couple of my Zachbots. I'll just send a couple over whenever I need some critters, and they'll help you capture the animals I need."

A chill ran down Martin's spine as the words echoed through his head. If Zach would send his robots to them 'whenever he needed animals', that meant that Zach planned to make them find animals – to _imprison_ animals – more than once. How many times would he force them to help him, and how many animals would he enslave for his army before he was finished? There was just no way…_no__ way_ he could agree to help Zach.

"Martin?"

He turned towards Aviva, meeting her uncertain eyes. "What's the hold up?" she asked.

And he realized, as he looked between her and Koki and Jimmy, that they had already given up. The decision was made to go along with Zach, and they weren't going to fight this. Somehow, he couldn't help the anger that began to bubble inside him.

"Think of what he's saying," he said, his voice a low hiss. "Think of what he's making us do…of what he wants!"

"I understand," Aviva replied, and he knew that she really did. "But what choice do we have?"

Martin shook his head. "I _can__'__t_…I can't just…"

"Y'know," Zach suddenly piped up, "I guess I really shouldn't be surprised."

Turning towards him, Martin frowned. "Huh?"

The pale man examined his fingernails casually, a twisted smile spreading across his lips. "I mean, I should've known that you couldn't make a decision like this, since people aren't really _important_ to you."

Martin's eyes widened, and his breath was caught in his throat. "Wh…wh-what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Zach shrugged. "It's only so _obvious_ that you care more about stupid animals than about humans. Then again, I guess I always kinda figured that you Wild Rats just didn't _care_ about people. But I never thought that worthless little critters were more important to you than your own _brother_."

"I…Th-that's not…" Martin floundered.

"Don't listen to him, Martin," Aviva said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He's just trying to mess with your head."

But it was hard for Martin to pay attention to her over the shame echoing in his ears. He had been called a lot of things due to his life as a Creature Adventurer, and he was used to hearing some mean and sometimes weird things. But no one had _ever_ accused him of not caring about people before. Sure, protecting animals was important to him, but…it wasn't because he considered people _less_ important…right?

But then…why couldn't he have been like the others, who were all ready to save Chris? Chris was his brother, and he should have been the first one to do whatever he could to help him, no matter what. So did his hesitation mean that Zach was right? That he cared more about protecting animals than helping his brother?

"Well," Zach said suddenly, "I guess if you don't wanna help me, then I should just get going. I've got some…useless things that I need to get rid of."

Fear once again gripped Martin's heart. "Wait, Zach!" he called.

Zach paused, looking towards Martin expectantly.

Still, Martin hesitated. "You…you have to _promise_ that Chris will be okay."

The younger man rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"I mean it." Martin's eyes narrowed. "If anything happens…"

"All right, I get it." Zach approached the Wild Kratts team again, standing beside his Zachbot. "Like I said, help me with my animal army, and Green Guy will get back to you, all safe and sound."

Studying the other for a moment, Martin then sighed, a defeated slump in his shoulders. "All right."

Zach smirked, holding his hand out. "So we have a deal?"

Martin eyed the pale hand, as though it might attack him. But swallowing down the lump in his throat, he accepted the offered handshake to seal the deal.

It was hard to ignore the feeling, though, that he was going to regret this in the end.

* * *

><p>The pounding in the back of his head was what first roused him from the dark unconsciousness. But when he tried to rub the tender spot, it was the fact that he couldn't move his arms that really woke him up.<p>

Eyes snapping open, Chris looked down to see the restraints around his wrists and ankles, holding him down to the metal table he was lying on. A few hard tugs proved that the bonds would not break easily, and he soon gave up when the throbbing in his head worsened.

He took slow, deep breaths to calm the rising fear in his chest, distracting himself by examining the room he was in. The dim lighting made it difficult to see more than shadowed shapes, but he soon discovered that the light was coming from a computer monitor, the screen dark from idleness and taking up the entire length of one wall.

Closing his eyes, he exhaled through his nose as he tried to recall how he ended up in such a predicament. He remembered horses…being in his pigeon suit…a stampede…smoke…a familiar ship, and…

"Zach," he muttered, his voice dry and raspy.

"You called?"

Chris would have jumped had he not been bound to the table, but he winced when light suddenly flooded the room. Blinking rapidly, he finally managed to open his eyes and see the spacious room he was in, lined with metal from corner to corner and filled with machines that he had no idea what they did.

And to his right, on the opposite side of the room from the monitor, stood Zach at the doorway, with a smug grin on his face.

Chris glared. "Zach, what are you up to now?" he demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Zach taunted, striding into the room at a leisurely pace.

The green-clad man futilely tried at his restraints once more. "You better not have done anything to those horses!"

"Oh _please_," the inventor said, pausing at the table to look down at Chris. "What is it with you guys and those horses? I am _so_ not interested."

Chris looked up at him, but from his angle Zach looked upside-down. "Well, whatever you're planning, it won't work."

Zach laughed. "It already has. I just need to get a few things ready before I ask that brother of yours to capture some animals for me."

"Wh…what?" He blinked. His headache must be worse than he thought, because he couldn't have heard right. It just wasn't possible. "What did you say?"

Zach's smirk deepened. "Exactly what I said, Green Guy. With just one call, I can get whatever animal I want, trapped and delivered to me by Blue Boy himself."

Chris' eyes widened, and he shook his head. "No way…no way! Martin would never…!"

With an amused look, Zach continued past the table and towards the monitor. "If you don't think he'd give up a bunch of dumb creatures for _your_ sake, then you clearly don't know him as well as you think."

His head began pounding again, and this time it wasn't because of the bump back there. 'For _my_ sake…' A cold numbing wave swept throughout his entire body as the words echoed in his mind, quickly putting the pieces together. Zach had captured him while he'd been looking for the horse herd, and was now using him as leverage to get his older brother to capture animals for him. But for what? Just what was Zach up to?

Swallowing thickly, he glanced up to see the pale man typing commands on the computer consol. "Where…where's Martin now?"

Zach hummed, pretending to think. "They were heading to Africa last I checked…or at least they better be, since that's where I told them to go. Then again, that _was _a few hours ago, so they might already be there."

Another wave of panic rushed through Chris as he wondered just how long he'd been out. "Why Africa?" he asked. It felt weird to keep talking, and part of him did it because he felt nervous. But Chris also knew that Zach was pretty boastful, and no matter how hard the inventor tried to act mysterious, he would take any opportunity he could to gloat about his plan.

"Seemed like a good place to start," Zach replied, looking between the monitor and typing on the consol. "There always seems to be plenty of animals running around there."

Chris frowned. That may have been true, but a good number of those animals were endangered and needed protection. "And what animal are you looking for there?"

Zach paused, this time taking the moment to actually consider his answer. "Dunno." He glanced back towards the Kratt with that small smirk of his. "Got any suggestions?"

Chris glared at him. He knew he should try asking more questions, try to wear Zach down first before he could really find out Zach's plan, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. "If Martin _does_ catch animals for you, what are you going to do with them? What's gonna happen then?"

Zach turned back to the monitor, so Chris never got the chance to see his smirk across his face grow ever wider. "_That__'__s_…when the fun begins."

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! It's been a while, huh? Sorry it took me so long to update this. I was having trouble figuring out how to start some scenes and work out certain things. But once I finally started actually writing this, it didn't take me long to finish the chapter. I really should just sit down and make myself write something...

But anyway, I hope the wait was worth it. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"You should just stop struggling. It's pointless, anyway."<p>

With an exhausted breath, Chris reluctantly followed the suggestion, relaxing his body and letting his head fall back against the table. He winced; hours of trying to break free from his bonds gave him nothing but burning wrists and ankles rubbed raw, and a headache even worse than before.

Fighting against unyielding metal constraints was probably not the _smartest_ thing to do, and he knew that he most likely wouldn't break them on his own. But trying to get free was better than doing nothing. And he had to do something – _anything_ – or else he thought he just might go crazy.

Once his heavy breathing calmed, he turned his head in Zach's direction, looking at the other man through strands of his messed hair. The pale inventor had been sitting in his chair, rooted to the same spot since he first arrived, quietly muttering to himself as he typed. Their earlier conversation seemed like hours ago, and was too short-lived; Chris wasn't able to get any real information from Zach about what he was planning, or why he was making Martin capture the animals for him in the first place.

Chris just couldn't figure it out. After all this time…after all the adventures they've had, all the times they stumbled upon Zach imprisoning animals in his robots and making the creatures work for him…why was Zach doing this _now_? Kidnapping him and then blackmailing his brother to do the dirty work…something about it just didn't make sense.

Sure, he'd been kidnapped and locked up by Zach once before. But then, with him as a hostage at that time, Zach could have pulled this kind of thing _ages_ ago. Zach could have forced Martin to gather the rhinos for him, he could have made Aviva find the rhino's charge code and give it to him…Zach could have pulled off his whole Rhino-dozer scheme with little resistance from the team because he was already in Zach's holding.

Instead, Zach tricked Martin with a robot duplicate to buy some time, and _after_ he had already gathered a number of rhinos, and used covert methods to get the charge code. He had done all _that_ on his own, because he had _planned_ to do it that way.

Chris' eyes screwed shut as his head began to pound, the pain making it difficult to focus. Maybe he was just thinking about it too much. Maybe there was nothing else to the situation, and this just _was_ Zach's plan; to mess with Martin by forcing him to gather animals under threat of harm to his brother. That in itself was a low thing to do, and Zach certainly wasn't above pulling off a stunt like that.

Yet somehow, Chris felt – he _feared_ – that there was much more to it than that.

Suddenly the silence in the room was broken when Zach began cackling, and Chris would have jumped if he wasn't strapped to the table. He frowned, curious, when Zach rose from his seat.

"Finally," the man in black said, entering one last command on the consol. Then the screen, bright and littered with figures Chris didn't understand, went blank. Rubbing his hands together, the pale man smirked. "Now, I just need one more thing…"

Zach turned, his attention to two Zachbots that hovered into the lab. "Take the Wild Rat away," he commanded. "I…have a call to make, and I don't want any distractions."

The metal cuffs disappeared, quickly replaced with robot arms that roughly pulled Chris off the table. Pain flared through his head, made worse as he once again began to struggle against the two Zachbots on either side of him. He thrashed wildly, trying to dig his feet into the smooth floor tiles while the robots attempted to drag him away. He knew he was weak against them, already tired from earlier, but he would do whatever he could to stay in that room.

Because he knew _exactly_ who Zach was planning to call. And more than anything, he somehow _had_ to get in touch with his brother.

Unfortunately his efforts weren't enough to fight off the Zachbots. They lifted him into the air with minimal effort, easily carrying him out of the lab. Even so, he refused to give up, resisting with whatever strength he had. He turned and twisted, kicking at the droids in hopes of finding some weakness in their build that he could exploit and get free.

But then something snapped across the back of his head, sending pain coursing throughout his entire body. Lightning flashed across his vision, and then everything went black.

* * *

><p>Aviva stepped outside of the <em>Tortuga<em>, blowing an annoyed huff through her lips. "That robot is just as annoying as Zach is," she muttered.

Before parting ways, Zach had left one of his Zachbots with them as a means of contact. The pale inventor said he would communicate with them through the robot, so they needed to keep it in their headquarters to know whenever Zach needed them.

But for some reason, the stupid machine just would _not_ leave Aviva alone. It followed her everywhere, and it was driving her crazy. She was positive that Zach programmed it that way just to irritate her.

She had stepped outside hoping to ease her mind, and luckily the robot didn't seem to be following her now. But as she looked out at the African savannah, watching some herds or packs or even solitary animals, and remembering what could happen to any of them…what _they_ might have to do to them, only made her heart clench with tight guilt. She knew she would find no peace out here either.

And she knew she wasn't the only one. As bad as she felt, she imagined it was so much worse for Martin. He had gone out as soon as they landed, and while they wanted to give him some time alone, she thought it was best to find him. Zach could call any time, and Martin wasn't answering his Creature Pod, nor did he say where he was going.

Aviva chewed her bottom lip. In fact, Martin hadn't said much of anything since they agreed to Zach's "deal". He had been eerily silent the whole trip there, and whenever anyone spoke to him, he only gave simple responses and wouldn't look at any of them. Once they arrived, none of them got another chance to talk to him before he disembarked the _Tortuga_.

They knew what was bothering him, though. And Aviva hated it. She hated everything; hated being forced to do something like this, hated the circumstances of why they _had_ to do it, hated being in this situation…and most of all, she _hated_ Zach. Part of her hoped she'd never end up alone in a room with him after this, because if she ever got the chance –

Coming upon Martin under an acacia tree made her stop all at once, her feet as well as all her thoughts. She had been halfheartedly looking for him, but now that she found him she hesitated from calling his attention. Instead she observed him; her eyes took in his stiff posture as he leaned against the tree trunk, his arms tightly folded across his chest, fingers drumming an agitated beat against his arm…and his face was devoid of any expression, blank as he stared out in front of him.

Aviva frowned, her heart breaking as she watched him. She could see that he was trying so hard to withdraw into himself, trying to mask anything that would reveal what was going through his mind. But the Martin she had come to know always spoke his mind, and was so open with his emotions that one could just _look_ at him and tell exactly what he was feeling.

Even now, though he tried to bottle himself up, she could tell that his true thoughts were bubbling under the surface, ready to burst out. And somehow, she knew she had to help.

She walked quietly, passing through his line of vision as she moved around him to lean against the other side of the acacia tree. And then she waited; it was enough, she hoped, to remind him that she was there, while letting him be the one to initiate the conversation.

They remained that way for a long time, silently watching life on the savannah play out before them. After a while, Aviva knew Martin was doing this on purpose, trying to keep quiet and hoping she would give up and leave. But she was stubborn as well, and was willing to stick around until he wanted to talk.

Then he sighed heavily, finally giving in, and she glanced at him patiently.

"One time," he began, his eyes focused on anything but her, "when Chris and I were kids, Chris found a bird's nest in a tree in our backyard."

Though a little confused about the topic of conversation, Aviva felt that there must be some point to it. So she nodded, urging him to continue.

"Chris wanted to climb up to get a better look," Martin went on, "but I got worried that the mother bird would come back, so I stayed on some of the lower branches in the tree while Chris went higher up." He shook his head. "I warned Chris that the mom could be back any time, but Chris was really excited to see the chicks."

"So what happened?" Aviva wondered.

"Like I told him, the mother bird came back and…well, she wasn't happy to see Chris by her nest. She pretty much attacked him, and Chris almost fell out of the tree."

Aviva resisted the urge to smile; Chris nearly falling from a tree seemed to be a pretty common occurrence. "Was he okay?"

"Yeah, he was all right. We both climbed down, and once we were on the ground the mom was satisfied and left us alone." Martin paused, his eyes narrowing as something Aviva couldn't quite identify passed over them. "Once we were on the ground, though, Chris asked me why I didn't help when the mother bird went after him. And you know what I said?"

She hesitated, uncertain of the tone in his voice. It worried her, but she also sensed that he needed to get whatever this was off his chest. "What?"

Martin finally turned to look at her, and she was taken aback by the sorrow in his eyes. "I told him," he said, "that I was more concerned for the _bird_ than I was for _him_."

Finally understanding what he was getting at, Aviva quickly felt defensive on his behalf. "Come on, Martin. You guys were kids, and you were just teasing. Heck, I wasn't even there and _I _know that. No one doubts for a _second_ that you care about Chris."

"But what if it _is_ true?" Martin asked, more to himself than to her. "I mean, Chris is my brother. I should've been the first one to jump up, to do anything to save him. But I _didn't_. You and Koki and Jimmy were all willing to help Chris, but _I _was more worried about what that would mean for the animals, and I hesitated. I didn't even think about what might happen to him until Zach said something." He sighed, hanging his head in shame. "Maybe he was right. Maybe…Maybe I _don't_ –"

"Martin Kratt, don't you _dare_ finish that sentence," Aviva ground out. "That's just _crazy_! How can you even _think_ something like that?"

"It shouldn't have been so _hard_." Frustrated, he pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead. "I mean, he's my _brother_! Why did I have so much trouble making that choice?"

"You want to know why?" Aviva retorted. "Because you _care_. You care about Chris _and_ about all animals. It was hard for you because you were trying to choose between two things that you really love."

Giving her a sideways glance, he frowned. "What about you guys? It seemed easy enough for you."

"Well, of course we care about animals. But nowhere _near_ as much as you and Chris do. Trust me, I have never met _anyone_ who cares more about animals than you two."

Martin sighed. "That's kind of the problem, isn't it?"

"Who said it was a problem? Look, it has nothing to do with you caring about animals _more_ or about people _less_. It's just that you _care_, period." Placing her hands on her hips, she nearly growled, "If anyone should be accused of not caring about people, it's Zach. _He's_ the one threatening Chris, and using him to blackmail you to do this. It doesn't matter to him who gets hurt, because he doesn't think about anyone but himself. You're _nothing_ like that." Gently she placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with caring about all living things."

"Maybe, but…" He shook his head, unconvinced. "I dunno. Once Zach showed us he had Chris, I should've agreed sooner. If it had been Chris…"

"You want to play that game?" Aviva challenged. "Okay, let's go."

Martin's head snapped up, looking at her in confusion. "What?"

"You were the one who said it, so let's see. So what if the roles had been switched? Let's pretend _you _were the one captured by Zach instead."

"Uh…okay…"

"Now, be honest: If you knew what Zach was up to, and you knew what Zach was going to tell Chris, what would you want Chris to do?"

There wasn't really much of a choice, so Martin barely gave it any thought. He already knew what he'd want his brother to do. "I'd want Chris to forget about me and keep the creatures safe."

Aviva nodded as if she expected him to answer that way. "Exactly. And Chris would probably be the same way. That's just how you guys are."

He hesitated, considering her words with a concentrated frown. Aviva hoped that she had gotten through to him, and after a while of silence, she believed she had. But then he looked at her again and asked in a soft voice, "So…do you think Chris will be angry with me? For choosing to save him instead of protecting animals, the way he wanted?"

She blinked; it wasn't so much the question that surprised her, but rather it was the amount of genuine fear infused in his words. The way he asked it seemed almost childish, like a kid asking if he would be punished for doing something wrong, even if he hadn't meant to do it.

And perhaps, she realized, that wasn't so far from the truth. The Brothers' lives were dedicated to learning about and helping animals, and both were willing to put themselves at risk for the benefit of animals. And she could imagine Martin worrying that Chris would see his actions as a betrayal of their mission, of their life's work. Even if he didn't _want_ to do it, even if he had no other choice, he was truly scared that Chris would still hate him for doing something they would never do under normal circumstances.

Expression softening, Aviva decided to try again. "Well, let's keep going then. If _you_ had been captured, and Chris was the one who had to make this choice…even if _you_ wanted him to keep the animals safe, what do you think _he_ would do?"

Martin let the question roll around in his mind, trying to imagine his brother in a similar situation. Though he wouldn't wish to place such a burden on Chris, he thought that his methodical brother would handle making such a choice a bit better than he did. Chris was always the more reasonable one, willing to think things through than rush into a situation unprepared.

Then again, was there really a way to prepare for something like this? How could anyone anticipate being forced to do something this? Yet if anyone could have figured out a better solution, some way to fix the problem, it'd be Chris…But no, that wasn't what Aviva was asking. If Chris was in _this_ position, what would he do? Surely he'd consider his options…yet for all his logic, Chris was also very passionate about the things he cared for. And in such a dangerous situation with heavy consequences, even someone as cool-headed as Chris would find it difficult to remain completely rational.

The more he thought about it, the more he could imagine his younger brother's actions, behavior, thoughts, and feelings. And the mental picture caused him to grin, the first since the whole fiasco began. "If I know my brother," he said, "then he'd just ignore what I say and do the exact opposite."

Aviva smiled, glad that he was better enough to be joking around. "Right…" Then she cleared her throat, getting back to the heart of the matter. "But you think it'd be an easy decision for him to make?"

"Definitely not."

"And after everything was said and done…would _you_ be angry at him for what he did?"

He shook his head. "'Course not. I…I couldn't be mad at him for that."

"Right," Aviva said, "just like Chris won't be mad at you. Because even though you're both fine with risking your _own_ lives, you always go the extra mile to protect _each other_. You two are _brothers_, and that's just what family does."

Thinking over it once more, letting the words sink in, Martin nodded with understanding. He turned to her, a smile coming more easily this time. "Thanks, Aviva."

She returned the nod, glad that she could do something to help him. 'If only I could do more…' she internally lamented.

Suddenly a loud series of beeping from behind startled the two, and they spun around to see the Zachbot hovering there.

Aviva groaned. "What _now_?"

The Zachbot responded with another sequence of beeps, synchronized with the red flashing of its eyes. Its eyes then began to glow as light beamed from them, forming a screen in front of the two. The screen flickered for a moment before Zach's face, made even paler than usual by the resolution of the projection, appeared.

"Hey, Blue Boy," Zach sneered. "Miss me?"

Martin sighed. Whatever tension Aviva had eased with their conversation quickly returned, and he folded his arms across his chest. "What is it, Zach?"

"I'm ready for my first animal," Zach replied casually. Then he smirked. "And because I'm such a _nice_ guy, I'm gonna let you pick which one it'll be. So, pop quiz, Wild Rat. What's the toughest animal out where you are?"

Martin frowned, not expecting the question. But hearing it reminded him of when he and Chris had spent the day trying to answer just that. Without really thinking, he replied, "The honey badger."

"Honey badger, huh?" Zach repeated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He paused as though considering it, then said, "Okay, get me a few of those. However many you can find."

Martin and Aviva both glared. "Anything else for you, your _highness_?" the mechanic spat out.

Zach just grinned wickedly. "That's all for now." He paused a moment, his attention on something else before looking back at them. "I'll be meeting you there with some equipment to make the capture easier, so…figure out how you're gonna catch the critters until I get there, I guess. Have fun!" With a sinister laugh, his image flickered and disappeared.

* * *

><p>Soon the light from his suit faded, and Martin flapped his wings to keep himself in the air as his body shrunk to the bird's normal size. He fluttered that way for a moment before rising higher in the tree above him, landing on a branch and overlooking the Kalahari. From his perch, he watched the honeyguide he encountered fly away, probably off to find a creature that would <em>actually<em> help it.

As the thought entered his mind, he winced; though he doubted that he would attract _all _the honey badgers on the savannah, he was still lessening the chances for that honeyguide – for _any_ honeyguide – to obtain its source of food. And that was only _one_ way that he could be ruining the natural system. Despite the extensive range and number of honey badgers, and maybe even _because _of their numbers, they were part of an intricate balance within nature. Who knows how much damage removing even just _some_ of the honey badgers would cause?

Looking out, he could see the glint of metal from the nearby Zachbots, hiding and waiting for him to retrieve the honey badgers so they could capture them. For a moment, his nerves got the better of him, keeping him frozen on the branch. The sick guilt in his stomach felt so much heavier all of a sudden, and he didn't think he could fly even if he wanted to.

But then he thought of Chris, and the threats Zach promised if he didn't bring any creatures. Part of him wondered just how serious Zach was, wondering if Zach would _really _do anything to harm Chris. But another part – the big brother part of him – knew he just couldn't risk it.

So he spread his wings and took off, flying close to the ground as he chirped the honeyguide's song, trying to draw someone's attention. He glided over tall grasses and shrubs, over noticeable holes in the ground, any place a honey badger might be found.

And it wasn't long before one finally noticed him, poking its head out of its tunnel as he flew by. He hovered for a moment, singing the sweet promising song before flying off once again. A quick glance behind him confirmed that it was definitely following him.

Soon a few other badgers heard him singing, and he found himself being trailed by a small group of the creatures. The nauseous feeling returned as he circled the air, leading them back to the area where the Zachbots were waiting. The honey badgers continued to follow him, and he couldn't believe how _easy _this was becoming. Then again, there was no real reason why it shouldn't be. They were hungry and looking for food, and they went with him because they trusted him to lead them to some. They had no idea what was going to happen, no reason to think anything was wrong…even as he led them into a trap so Zach could do something most likely terrible to them.

As he flew, he found himself thinking back to the idea Aviva presented earlier. While they were waiting for Zach to arrive with his robots and his equipment, she suggested that Zach probably didn't remember what a honey badger looked like, despite seeing one for himself. She thought that maybe they could lure a different animal for the Zachbots to capture, something more harmless. Certainly giving Zach _any_ animal was a terrible thing to do. But when Zach received the animal and found out they weren't as tough as he wanted, maybe he would think that his idea wasn't working, and that would be the end of it.

It had been an interesting concept, and he had really thought about it. But he worried about the creature that they would have given to Zach in place of the honey badger. If it wasn't as tough as Zach wanted, he might end up getting rid of it for being useless to him…maybe even kill it. And while he wanted to keep the honey badgers safe, it wouldn't be fair to risk other animals like that, especially when they had nothing to do with any of this in the first place.

Besides, after Aviva brought up the idea and they discussed it in length, Martin noticed that the one Zachbot already with them on the _Tortuga_ was watching them rather intently. And he found himself worrying that Zach could have been listening the entire time. If Zach thought they were going to deceive him, it would just put Chris in more danger.

Martin knew that he really had no choice. No matter how much he hated it, he absolutely had to let Zach take the honey badgers.

When he finally reached the designated clearing, he flew up higher into the air and fluttered his wings, signaling to the Zachbots below. The droids popped out from their hiding places, launching nets and trapping the unsuspecting badgers.

Martin looked away, unable to watch the scene. But he couldn't keep from listening to the badgers growling and snarling, the hissing movements of the robots, the ringing slam of metal cages, the shuddering scrape of claws against closed walls.

And just like that it was all over; though the small number of honey badgers had tried to put up a fight, the surrounding Zachbots simply were unaffected by their defenses, and had no trouble subduing the creatures and locking them up.

He lingered overhead, watching as the Zachbots hovered away in a single line back towards the jet where both Zach and Aviva were waiting. He followed after them, pretending they were worker ants bringing food back to their colony; the image almost distracted him, but it wasn't enough to ease his conscience.

As the robots filed into the jet, Martin veered off to the side where Zach and Aviva were standing. He swept down and deactivated his suit, landing safely on his feet in front of them.

Zach watched the train of robots entering the jet with a frown. "That's _it_?" he asked incredulously. He glared at Martin with an accusing eye. "That's _all_ you got me?"

Martin clenched his fists, trying to calm himself before speaking. "Honey badgers aren't really social creatures, Zach. I was lucky to get that many to follow me at once."

Zach rubbed his chin thoughtfully as a Zachbot hovered over, awaiting instructions. Nearby were several other Zachbots, ones that Zach had brought in preparation for capturing a horde of the animal but returned empty-handed. Martin felt the knot in his stomach tighten, worried that the ones they brought back already weren't enough, and he wasn't sure if he could handle doing this again.

But then the pale inventor smirked. "Fine," he said, folding his arms behind his back. "I suppose that'll be enough."

Both Martin and Aviva sighed in relief, but it was short-lived when Zach added, "Still, I _did_ bring a lot of equipment with me."

"So?" Aviva huffed.

He turned to her, obviously taking pleasure in whatever he was going to say. "It just seems like a waste, that's all. So maybe you guys should go make use of it."

"And how would you like us to do that?" Martin asked tightly.

Zach paused for a moment. He appeared to be thinking, but they both knew that he was just making them wait to toy with them. Finally, he said, "I think I wanna add some black rhinos to my army." He turned to Martin and winked. "Just for old times' sake, y'know?"

Martin gritted his teeth, but said nothing.

"Obviously the cages are too small for the rhinos, but the nets should work okay." Zach made his way up the jet ramp, pausing at the entranceway. "I'll be back to pick up the rhinos later. Try to have a decent number ready for me by then, okay?"

Martin and Aviva didn't have time to answer before the doors swept closed, and they quickly stepped away from the jet as it lifted into the air and took off through the sky. Once it was gone, they turned towards the collection of Zachbots left behind, including the one with them on the _Tortuga_. As the robots stared at them with blinking red eyes, Martin suddenly had the urge to punch the one closest to him and Aviva.

Instead he shoved it aside and stormed past it, heading with Aviva back to the HQ so they could come up with a new plan for Zach's latest request.

* * *

><p>Comfortably seated in his jet, Zach smirked to himself as he once again reviewed his notes. He knew he would have to hurry and get back to pick up the rhinos. But he figured he would have enough time once he got to the lab to get some work done before needing to return.<p>

Because now that he_ finally_ had a subject for testing, he was eager to get started right away.

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you guys so much for your time and kind words regarding my fic! Seriously, you are all amazing! I'm honestly surprised that anyone reads this (though that might just be me being overly critical about my own writing...)!

I worry a little though. A lot of people already have speculations and assumptions about what's going to happen in this story. And I'm concerned that what I'm planning for this story won't even _compare_ to what you guys think is going to happen. I hope you guys won't be too disappointed when I fail to meet your expectations...hehe...

Anyway, about this chapter: I have been wrestling with this thing for a long time, even before I started writing chapter 3. At first I wanted to end it in one place, then I wanted to end it in another place, then another, and another...you get the point. So good news and bad news. Good news: this chapter is finished. Bad news: It's shorter than I planned it to be.

I felt it was getting a bit too long, I think. It's funny though, because as I was typing up the chapter and decided that it was a good place to cut it off, the chapter ended the _exact_ way I wanted it to the very _first_ time I planned it out. Guess it was meant to be...heh...

Anyway, I think I've gone on enough. Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Across the room, Koki caught the expression on Jimmy's face, a mixture of concern and fear. And at the moment, she completely sympathized with both sentiments.<p>

The two of them sat at their usual stations, watching Aviva as she walked laps around the center dais. They were used to watching her pace as she thought, quietly speaking to herself as she formulated ideas and set plans. But they could see the agitation in her step, the anger in her posture…And she couldn't blame her Latina friend for being this way, knowing exactly what was wrong. But Aviva had something of a temper sometimes, and neither Koki nor Jimmy wanted all that anger directed at them.

It probably wasn't the best idea, then, for them to continue watching as Aviva made her way around the room once more. However, it was difficult to look away, especially when they knew that something was bound to happen soon.

As expected, Aviva seemed to snap and she spun on her heel, causing the Zachbot behind her to come to a sudden stop.

"Would you just _leave me alone_ already?" she exclaimed.

The Zachbot simply beeped in response, almost innocently. Koki would have almost thought it cute if it wasn't…well, a Zachbot.

Aviva threw her hands up, and the Zachbot practically seemed to shrink back. "I'm not even _doing_ anything! Just. Go. Away!"

It beeped again, and Aviva swung her leg forward, close to kicking the robot. At the last second she checked herself, pulling her foot back and instead stomping the ground angrily. When the Zachbot beeped again – this sounding more like a mocking retort than anything – she looked ready to strangle it. Koki and Jimmy shared another look.

The automatic doors slid open with a hiss, and the two finally broke away from the scene to watch as Martin entered the room.

"Where ya been?" Jimmy wondered.

Martin didn't answer, not that Koki really expected him to. Recently he took a lot of alone time, and none of them were quite sure where he went. Instead, he watched as Aviva once again stormed about the room, the Zachbot close behind her.

He frowned. "It's still following you around, Aviva?" he asked.

She turned to fix him with a glare. "What do _you_ think?" she retorted.

Koki noticed Martin glance her way, his brow raised in question. She sighed and shrugged. "With it following her all the time," she explained, "Aviva hasn't been able to get a moment's peace. It follows her just about everywhere."

"Everywhere?" Jimmy echoed, a slight grimace on his face. "That's…kinda creepy. So does that mean it even follows you to the ba–"

Aviva rounded on Jimmy, and he cowered at the look she gave him. "_No!_" she shot back. Then she paused, breathing deeply to calm herself before trying again. "I mean, not even Zach is _that_ creepy…"

Silence for a beat, and then a collective shudder ran through the group as the thought lingered in their minds.

Aviva resumed her pacing, and Martin watched her for a moment. As she passed, he reached out and grabbed the robot, holding it back. It beeped, as if in protest.

Martin's eyes narrowed, and he shook the robot roughly. "Zach, knock it off."

The Zachbot beeped, pulling out of Martin's grasp and quickly hovered behind Aviva, as if trying to hide.

"Ugh!" Aviva huffed, pushing the Zachbot away from her a little.

"Zach, I know you're there, and I mean it. Cut it _out_, you hear me?" He took a step towards the robot, and it ducked behind Aviva as if it was actually afraid.

"Forget it, Martin," Aviva said, weariness slipping into her tone. "Zach just doesn't know when to quit."

Jimmy scratched his head in curiosity. "I don't get it. Why's it following you around so much anyway?"

Aviva sighed, placing a hand to her forehead in order to avoid his eyes. "I…I don't know."

Koki frowned, her own gaze falling to the floor. She couldn't help noticing how _guilty_ the words sounded, and worried that the boys would pick up on it as well. Then again, maybe the only reason she could tell was because she already knew that Aviva was lying.

They both knew _exactly _why the Zachbot stuck so close to Aviva. But they never had the chance to explain it to the guys. And at this point, Koki wasn't sure they could even keep it up any longer.

It was a risk right from the start, but at the time the idea seemed _plausible_ at least. Aviva had gotten it back when Zach had them capture black rhinos in Africa, because it reminded her of his Rhino-dozer plan way-back-when…how he had planted baby Nubs with a camera and a tracking device in order to find and observe them. And Aviva realized that, if Zach could do it, then why couldn't she?

Why couldn't she build a tracking device and place it on one of the animals they handed over to Zach, using it to trace his location and see if it was the place he was keeping Chris? Then they would be able to find and rescue him, and return all the animals that Zach forced them to capture back to their homes.

It was a good idea…except she quickly discovered precisely why she _couldn't_ do it. The Zachbot had started following Aviva around since Zach left it on the _Tortuga_, and at first it had only been a minor annoyance. But then the robot was always trailing behind her; wherever she went, it followed. It followed her to the lab, it followed her when she was looking for tools or materials, it followed her when she was trying to _plan_ how to build the device… It monitored her _constantly_, and she couldn't get away from it.

And because it was always around her, she never had a chance to build the tracking device. She remembered their last mistake – discussing the idea of giving Zach an animal that wasn't what he wanted, while the Zachbot was watching them – and knew never to do something like that again. So as long as the robot hovered over her, as long as _Zach_ was watching her every action, she couldn't work on the device.

She quickly realized that that was the _real _reason Zach left the robot with them. It wasn't just to keep in communication with them; he was making sure that Aviva _never_ got the chance to work on the tracker. With his Zachbot observing her, he could catch Aviva once she started working on the device. And once he knew, he could move Chris to a different location where they still wouldn't find him. Or even worse…Zach might _hurt_ Chris just because they had tried to rescue him.

It was too big of a chance to take, and Aviva gave up building the tracking device herself. Yet she didn't surrender completely. In fact, the only reason Koki knew about all this was because Aviva managed to explain it to her, sending her a message through their Creature Pods. Even _that_ had been hazardous, since the Zachbot never left her alone. Aviva never even got a chance to tell Martin any of it, even with the Creature Pods. But she had risked telling Koki because, after explaining the situation, she asked Koki to help build the device _for _her.

Again, it sounded like a good idea; the Zachbot only followed Aviva around, which made sense since, in terms of mechanics, she was the only one who posed a threat to Zach. With Zach solely focused on Aviva, he might not notice if Koki sometimes disappeared. And even if he did, he probably wouldn't suspect what she was doing.

And Koki was glad for the chance to do _something_ to help. She hated watching her friends going through all this, hated worrying about how Chris was doing, and not being able to do _anything_ about it. But even after all the times she assisted Aviva with some of her projects, Aviva was _always_ the one actively building the gadgets. Though Koki knew enough to understand Aviva's technobabble and help out, she just couldn't _do_ what Aviva did. She didn't have the knack or the skill to build a tracking device from spare parts, no matter how much instruction she received from Aviva.

She had _tried_ of course. She had done everything she was able to do, following Aviva's directions as best she could. But sometimes they were so difficult to understand, whether because she just didn't know what some of it meant, or because Aviva had been in a hurry to send them before the Zachbot caught her. There were so many things she had to ask about, and she would have to wait until Aviva was able to respond. It just took so much time, which was why the device _still_ wasn't finished even after all this time.

Koki just wished she could get the device done. They had already traveled across the world and back, literally, several times to gather whatever animal Zach felt like making them capture. She had lost track of all the creatures they had to get for Zach; she remembered lions, elephants, crocodiles from Africa…great white sharks and sperm whales from the ocean whenever they could find them…they might have been in the Arctic for a while looking for polar bears…and more recently they had captured whole packs of wolves.

But she was sure there were other types of animals they had been forced to capture. She just couldn't remember them all at the moment because they were all completely drained. They were exhausted by the nearly-nonstop travel and work involved to catching the creatures, and they were troubled by their continuous trapping of animals, of locking them up and sending them to Zach. On top of all that, both she and Aviva had the guilt of working on an idea to put an end to all this – of finding and rescuing Chris – but being unable to follow through with it because they risked putting him in further danger.

It all took a heavy toll on her, and she knew Aviva felt the same way. It was why Aviva's temper was unusually high these days, why little things aggravated her so much. And while Koki wasn't taking out her anger on the Zachbot like Aviva was, she had to admit that she was sorely tempted to.

Koki was pulled from her thoughts by a sudden sequence of beeps, and she and the others looked to see that the Zachbot had stopped, hovering in place as its eyes flashed red. She saw both Aviva and Martin scowl, and it was easy to understand why; they knew what the Zachbot's actions meant, and given the options Aviva probably would have preferred the droid following her around than having to see the face of its creator.

Still, they had no choice but to watch as the robot's eyes glowed with light, projecting the image of Zach before them on the center dais.

"Greetings, team," Zach said with a smirk. He spoke with a casual tone, as if he was their friend and not someone they all hated at the moment.

"Zach," Aviva returned; the name sounded more like a curse on her lips.

Glaring for a moment, Martin then folded his arms across his torso and looked away.

"So," Zach continued in a nearly cheerful manner, "I'm thinking this time I want something that flies. A bird. Something fast, but still something that looks menacing. Y'know; sharp beak, sharp claws, the works."

From where Koki sat, she thought she heard Martin mutter something like 'talons'. But his head was turned away from her so she wasn't quite sure.

"So, Wild Rat?" Zach sneered. "What's the fastest, meanest bird you got?"

Martin's body tensed slightly, but kept his glare on the floor and refused to look up as he muttered, "Peregrine falcon."

As Koki watched him, her expression softened and her heart broke. She hated the way Martin increasingly withdrew into himself; the more animals they captured for Zach, the more Martin seemed to pull away from them, hiding himself away. And Koki worried that by the time this was finally over, no one would be able to bring him back again.

"Falcon, huh?" Zach smirked. "Sounds good. I've got some things to take care of before I meet you this time, but I'll send some Zachbots ahead of me so you can get started."

"Hold up, Zach," Aviva asserted, stepping towards the projection. "How much longer is this going to go on, huh? We've done _everything_ you've asked so far, but this has got to _stop_! Enough is enough!"

Koki held her breath, and she caught the nervous look Jimmy had as well. Lately, Aviva was the only willing to say anything against Zach; Martin had given in to bitter resolve and didn't say much of anything, and Zach never paid attention to her and Jimmy anyway. But Aviva, while doing as Zach wanted, still argued with him about it…still said exactly what she thought and felt. And while Koki admired her courage, she always worried that Aviva's growing frustration would eventually explode, and that she'd say something she'd regret.

And it appeared this was the moment; all the air seemed to rush out of the room at once, leaving behind a tense, suffocating silence. Aviva appeared to realize that she might have gone too far as Zach looked at her with a risen brow and an unreadable expression.

It seemed like an eternity, but the moment was shattered when Zach finally spoke again. "Well, I agree…Which is why this'll be the last animal I ask you for."

Suddenly time seemed to stop.

Martin's head shot up, looking at Zach with wide eyes, for the first time since the other called. "Wh-what?"

"You heard me." Zach shrugged. "I think I've gotten enough critters for my army."

Silence once again followed, made louder by the echo of the thought running through all their heads. They glanced at each other, exchanging expressions that tried not to be too hopeful, but wanted more than anything to believe. They all turned back to Zach.

"So…" Martin tried, almost afraid to speak the words, "s-so that means…that Chris…"

Zach smirked. "That's right. Just get me the little birdies, and you can finally have the Green Guy back."

* * *

><p>It was only after the connection cut off that Zach allowed his doubts to creep back into his mind. A thoughtful frown replaced the smirk he wore for the group, rolling the thoughts around as he considered his options.<p>

He began to wonder if it was such a good idea, ending the…_arrangement_ with them so quickly. He may have accomplished his goal, had gotten what he wanted…but he didn't get it exactly in the _way_ he wanted it. Attaining _those_ results would require much more testing, more time. And that would be easier to gain if he still had that team working for him.

Thinking it over a moment longer, Zach scoffed and shrugged it off. What he achieved was good enough for the time being. And besides, he knew he'd have plenty of time for further testing later. He would reach his true objective soon enough.

Rising to his feet, he then turned to address two nearby Zachbots. "Go fetch the Wild Rat," he commanded. "His _big bwother_ misses him…"

* * *

><p>Deactivating his pigeon suit, Martin dropped down beside Aviva as the crew stood off to the side, watching as nearby Zachbots were not-so-carefully handling the cages of the captured peregrine falcons. Each robot handed a container to another, passing the birds around like cargo.<p>

Martin observed the scene as calmly as he could force himself to; it wasn't easy to bury his anger at the rough manner the robots were treating the falcons, but he knew he needed to settle down if he wanted to catch his breath. Pretending to be a wounded pigeon in order to lure a peregrine falcon and avoiding its attack to catch it was challenging enough, but to do so _several_ times was even more strenuous…not to mention the distances he had to fly in order to cover a territory and enter a new one.

The whole process to capture the number of peregrine falcons they had had severely drained him, but he felt he didn't have too much time to recover. He knew it was important to regain as much strength as he could in that short time. And while anxious resentment bubbled just below the surface, he breathed through clenched teeth and struggled to keep his composure.

Slowly, with great difficulty, he managed to ease his breathing so the cooling air would fill his tired body. And as he placed a hand to his chest to feel his heartbeat steadying, he carefully replaced the pigeon disc in his suit with the peregrine falcon disc.

It might not have really mattered, since the Zachbots' attention remained solely on the peregrine falcons and didn't even spare a moment to him and the _Tortuga_ crew. But they knew, as Aviva covertly slipped him a stray falcon feather, that they couldn't afford any mistakes in such a high-risk gamble like this.

He knew they had to give it a shot, but he couldn't deny the doubt rising in his chest. After all, he was much more used to making things up on the spot, not organizing a strategy to the last detail. Chris was much better at that, meticulously running ideas through his head and plotting a course of action. He only hoped that his current plan was something that his younger brother would approve of.

If only he could have planned it better, though. He had considered the idea numerous times, going over it completely to ensure it would work. But since he developed the whole thing during the times he was alone, he knew that there was still something he could have missed. He wished he could have gone over the idea with Aviva, at least; she could have helped him with any of the glitches he overlooked. With the Zachbot following her all the time, though, he knew there wasn't much she could have done. He was just glad that he was able to let the crew know about his intentions, sending them a message on their Creature Pods beforehand.

His thoughts were interrupted as the roar of an engine rumbled overhead, and a massive shadow eclipsed them. They all looked up, craning their necks to see the jet high above them, its exhausts sending powerful gusts surging through the area. But instead of landing, Martin watched with wide eyes as the jet remained airborne, and instead the Zachbots all began to rise, taking the falcons up to the vehicle.

He and Aviva exchanged panicked expressions as the robots disappeared into the jet. Did Zach somehow figure out what they were up to? He had tried to be so careful about it, doing everything he could to make sure he didn't give himself away. But did Zach still discover their plans anyway?

Once the last Zachbot was gone, they saw Zach appear at the jet's opening, just able to make out his form standing at the entryway and looking down at them. And even from all the way down on the ground, Martin could feel the other man smirking.

"Thanks for all the help, Wild Rat," Zach's voice boomed over the jet's loudspeaker. Before Martin could try yelling up at him, the pale man added, "Don't worry…I didn't forget about _my_ end of the bargain."

Two Zachbots materialized at Zach's side, and Martin's heart jumped into his throat when he saw Chris carried between them, unconscious but still wholly there. At first relief swept through him, but it soon gave way to cold fear when he realized that the jet still wasn't landing. It didn't look like Zach had any _intention_ to land. But surely Zach wouldn't…there was just _no way_…

Zach's cackling laugh echoed around them, as if he'd read Martin's thoughts. "It's been a pleasure doing business with ya," Zach said, giving them a mocking salute.

And then Martin watched in pure terror as the Zachbots tossed Chris' limp body from the jet.

"_CHRIS!_"

_TBC_


	5. Chapter 5

A new chapter, hurray! It's a day late, but this is my Valentine's Day gift to all the readers who have read, reviewed, favorited, and/or added this story/me on their story/author alert's - You guys are so awesome!

While writing this chapter, I was really inspired by a song called "Parachute" by the band Bread of Stones. The meaning and intention of the song doesn't quite match, but the feel of the song really helped me write this chapter...Not that it's really important to the story right now. I just wanted to let you guys know what song I'm obsessed with right now, haha.

Anyway, not much else to say about this chapter, I guess...other than, like I said in the previous chapter, I hope you guys won't be too disappointed with this. Heh...um...enjoy!

* * *

><p>"<em>CHRIS!<em>"

Clenching the falcon feather in his hand, Martin slammed the button of his creature power suit and transformed. His wings barely finished growing feathers before he shot up into the air towards his brother.

"C'mon!' Aviva called the others, and the crew quickly scrambled back to the _Tortuga_.

As Martin soared up closer to catch his brother, Zach's jet suddenly tore through the sky, the thunderous engines sending a flurry of wind rushing in all directions. He gasped as the powerful gales sent him spiraling off course in a whirlwind of confusion. His wings pounded furiously, desperately yet unsuccessfully fighting the blasting currents that tossed him around.

When the gusts finally died down, Martin was able to right himself, flapping his wings to hover in the sky. He looked around frantically; during the whole struggle, he had lost sight of Chris' body. The falcon's heightened sense of sight helped, though, and soon he spotted his brother's falling form. The blast from the jet engines had also caught Chris and sent him careening in a different direction, but Martin noted in alarm that the winds had also propelled him _down_, sending him closer to the ground.

"Chris!" he cried, pumping his wings faster. Then he folded them inward, shooting through the sky with all the speed granted to him by the peregrine suit and hoping it was enough to catch his brother before it was too late.

* * *

><p>"<em>Chris!<em>"

'…Martin…?'

He thought he heard…but was that even possible? The wind screaming in his ears made it rather difficult to hear _anything_. Was he just imagining it?

Where…_was_ he, anyway? He felt almost…weightless, cradled by the air around his body. It almost seemed like he was…floating.

Despite the wind whipping around him, he slowly opened his eyes…and found himself looking up at the bright blue sky. With every passing second, the sky somehow appeared to stretch out wider, looming over him as he drifted further away from it.

Realization abruptly hit him and he gasped, the air stolen from his lungs to join the draft swirling around him. His heart raced, pumping fear throughout his body and leaving him cold. There was nothing he could do as he was rapidly pulled towards the ground…and the thought that he had no idea how far _off_ the ground he was shook him to the core.

A shadow passed over him then and he looked up, squinting through the wind and blinding sky to see…_something_ speeding towards him, ripping through the air like a bullet. He couldn't completely make it out, but seeing it somehow chased away his panic. He found that he wasn't scared anymore as he reached out for the silhouetted figure, grabbing the first thing his fingers came in contact with.

At that moment, Martin's talons closed around Chris' arm, holding tightly as he opened his wings to catch the air and swoop out of the dive. The sudden change in velocity jarred them both; momentum and gravity still tugged at Chris, swinging his body and nearly wrenching him from Martin's grasp. Martin grabbed his other arm and pumped his wings rapidly to keep them both in the air, but his brother's suspended and still-weak body made it difficult to stay aloft. He could feel them losing altitude, but soon it didn't matter as he finally spotted the _Tortuga _coming into view, and he concentrated on maneuvering to the ship's open ceiling hatch.

Slowly he lowered himself and his brother into the turtle ship, and as soon as he felt Chris' feet touch the floor he opened his talons to let him go.

Air quickly rushed into Chris' lungs as he took a breath, not realizing he had been holding it. It surged through his quivering frame, causing his legs to buckle underneath him and collapse to his knees.

"Chris!" Aviva said, kneeling beside him in an instant. "You okay?"

He looked up at her with weary confusion. "I…I think so…" he murmured, his soft tone raspy and cracking.

Martin hopped off the center dais to stand on Chris' other side; still in his peregrine falcon suit, he could only bend down low to look at his brother. "Are you sure?" he asked, looking over the other with worried eyes.

Chris swallowed thickly, trying to clear his dry throat. "Y-yeah…" Slowly he reached up and rubbed the back of his head. "My…my head hurts a little bit, but…i-it's nothing too bad, I think…"

Pulling out her Creature Pod, Aviva did a quick bio-scan over his form. "Hmm…there's a bit of inflammation," she informed them, "but it looks like there's nothing too serious."

Martin sighed softly, finally allowing relief to wash over him. "Okay…try to take it easy, though, okay?"

With Aviva's help, Chris shakily rose to his feet and gave Martin a small, tired grin. "No worries," he replied. "I've had worse."

Once she was sure that the younger Kratt was strong enough to support himself, Aviva found that she couldn't hold back any longer, and suddenly hugged him.

Chris stiffened, surprised by the unexpected action. Not knowing what else to do, his arms wrapped around her, awkwardly returning the gesture.

"We've missed you so much…" he heard her whisper. A frown crossed his features, and he turned puzzled eyes to his older brother.

Martin smiled a little as Aviva finally pulled away; as much as he wanted to do the same and embrace his brother, the peregrine suit made it rather problematic. And guessing that he couldn't deactivate just yet, he instead settled for draping a wing over Chris' shoulders. "It's good to have you back, Bro," he said thickly, not quite able to keep the tremor from his voice.

"Uh, guys…" Koki suddenly said in a reluctant voice, drawing their attention, "I hate to interrupt, but…"

Martin turned to her, his expression quickly becoming serious as he remembered what else they still had to do. For now, they would have to put off celebrating Chris' return; there would be time for that later, after everything was dealt with. "Did we catch up to Zach's jet?" he asked.

"Um…yeah, but…"

"But what?" Aviva wondered.

Koki simply pointed to the main screen. "Look!"

The three turned to the monitor as it switched to frontal view, revealing Zach's jet before them some distance away. But as they watched, they soon noticed small figures streaming from the aircraft. Aviva hurried to the consol and zoomed in on the image, revealing that peregrine falcons were being released from the vehicle. The falcons' bodies were encased in metal, a flashing red light on their chests that matched the light on the metallic helmet on their heads. The entire flock of raptors was flying straight towards the _Tortuga_.

"He's using the peregrine falcons already?" Aviva asked, though didn't sound too surprised.

Martin's eyes narrowed. "Well, he didn't have any other animals with him," he pointed out. "It was probably the only way he could try to slow us down."

Watching the screen, Chris noted that the falcons began to fly upwards, preparing to strike. "What are we gonna do?" he wondered. "We can't hurt 'em…"

Martin hopped up on the center dais as the ceiling hatch opened again. "You guys keep following Zach," he instructed. "I'll try to buy you some time."

Chris spun around. "Martin, wait –!" But he wasn't able to say anything else before his brother took off, rising into the sky and out of the turtle ship.

"Hang on!" he said to Aviva before she could close the hatch. Jumping up on the dais, he looked up to see his brother being followed by the flock.

Though some of them were simply giving chase, others were already higher above him for a stoop. They rocketed down, and Martin had to quickly dodge. But more falcons barreled for him, and Martin twisted through the air, just barely avoiding the rapid succession of attacks.

And as he watched, Chris knew that his brother wouldn't be able to keep that up forever. There were too many birds, and not even Martin could handle that all by himself.

Racking his brain and getting an idea, Chris jumped down from the dais and headed for the consol, switching on the communication lines for both the cockpit and Martin's Creature Pod. "Jimmy!" he said. "Can you fly us up higher?"

There was a pause, then a reluctant answer, "Uh, yeah…I should be able to, but why –?"

"Get us as close as you can up there, and try to stay directly under Martin," he directed.

They all quickly realized what he was up to. "Chris, are you sure about this?" Martin asked, his voice uneven as he barely dodged a falcon attack that grazed his wing.

Hearing his brother's winded tone, Chris was more certain than ever. "Yeah, it'll be fine," he replied hastily. Turning to Aviva, he said, "You think you can deactivate Zach's device?"

She hesitated for a moment. "I can…but it'll take some time. You'll have to do something about the peregrine falcon until then."

He grinned a little, already shrugging out of his green jacket. "Got it covered," he replied. Then he returned to the consol. "Ready, Bro?"

"…Ready…" Martin replied as the _Tortuga _came up underneath him. As another peregrine falcon descended towards him, he quickly veered out of the way to avoid it, letting it fly into the open hatch of their aircraft.

As soon as it entered, the peregrine falcon swooped up to attack. It flew with raised talons, forcing Koki and Aviva to duck in order to avoid the mind-controlled raptor. It raced about the room wildly, looping around in an erratic pattern.

Chris spread his jacket as the falcon rounded once again and flew towards him, ready to attack. When it drew closer, he jumped at it, draping his jacket over it like a net. The falcon became entangled in the cloth, and both it and Chris fell to the floor. The falcon began struggling and trying to shake the jacket off, but Chris quickly grabbed it, being as careful as he could holding it in his arms while still keeping a good enough grip so it wouldn't break free.

"How's it going, Aviva?" he asked, his tone slightly pitched as he continued wrestling with the raptor.

"Just a minute," she replied distractedly, intensely focused on her Creature Pod. Without the remote or gadget Zach used to control the robotic system, she had to scan for the correct frequency that the mechanism emitted. Once she located the right channel, she was able to tap into the machine's controls with her Creature Pod and deactivate Zach's automation that controlled the falcon.

Soon the falcon ceased struggling, allowing Chris to slightly loosen his hold on the bird. There was a moment of stillness, but then the falcon once again began to fight against the jacket covering it. Noticing the difference between this time and before, however, Chris carefully picked up the raptor and held it close to him.

"Shh, it's okay," he murmured, gently stroking the bird to soothe it. "It's okay…don't worry, no one's gonna hurt you…"

Soon the falcon stopped resisting, and Chris carefully drew his green jacket off the bird's body. The peregrine looked up at him, giving him a curious tip of its head, but gave no sign of putting up a fight this time. Instead it hopped up onto his outstretched arm, settling comfortably on the makeshift perch.

Rising to his feet, Chris left Aviva to remove Zach's contraption from the falcon as he reached into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out his animal power discs. Somehow he managed to juggle the discs around with one hand until he found his peregrine falcon disc, grabbing it with his teeth so he could put the other discs away. Then he reached into his power suit and pulled out the current disc, putting that with the others before taking the falcon disc and slipping it into the suit.

And…he froze. His hand hovered just inches away from the activation button, but he had no idea why it was suddenly shaking so much. He couldn't explain why his heart was suddenly hammering in his chest, or why his breathing was so short, or why his throat seemed to close up. He didn't know why…but he suddenly had a very bad feeling that something was _wrong_.

"Chris?"

He turned, seeing the puzzled but concerned look Aviva gave him. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I…" He tried to swallow, but his throat was too dry. "Yeah, I-I just…" He frowned, shaking his head. It was _his_ idea to use the peregrine falcon suit so he could help his brother. So why did he feel so nervous?

Koki suddenly gasped, drawing both their attention to the screen she was watching. Up on the monitor, they saw Martin falter in the air, scarcely evading the attacking peregrine falcons. But even as he dodged one more, the raptor's talons caught his wing and tore some feathers from the suit, eliciting a surprised yelp from Martin.

"Martin…!" Chris gasped. Time was quickly running out, and he knew he had to do something. Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside his fear and, against his better judgment, pressed his suit's activation button.

The peregrine on his arm suddenly screeched and took off, flying out of the _Tortuga_ as the suit began to transform. But instead of the normal warmth that accompanied the suit's glow, a blazing heat raged throughout Chris' body like a wildfire. He felt every shift in his bones, every contortion of his muscles…every single change to become the peregrine falcon left a deep, excruciating reminder across his convulsing frame.

The flames soon swept up his spine, trailing up as the falcon suit's beak encased his head. Then the dull ache in the back of his mind exploded in overwhelming agony, and he couldn't contain the pained cry that was ripped from his throat.

* * *

><p>The crimson light on the apparatus in his hand suddenly began to pulsate. He looked at it, and for a moment he was a little surprised. But then the moment passed and a smirk appeared on Zach's pale face.<p>

"Well, if that's the way he wants to do it…" he muttered with a shrug, sticking the gadget in his pocket. Then turning to the consol before him, he tapped in several commands on the keyboard and pressed a large red button.

* * *

><p>Martin blinked as he finally realized that the manipulated falcons weren't attacking him any longer. Instead, as he watched with narrowed eyes and a frown, the raptors seemed to be retreating back to Zach's jet. Just what was Zach up to now?<p>

He was set to follow them, to try getting inside Zach's jet and find how to break the inventor's control on the birds. But as he was about to fly forward, he noticed just on the edge of his vision a trail of smoke, rising into the sky. He turned, and his eyes widened when he saw the smoke was coming from within the _Tortuga_, as the turtle ship rapidly plummeted from the sky.

"Oh no!" he gasped. He folded his wings in to dive after the aircraft; there probably wasn't much he could do, but he had to try to help the others _somehow_.

As he neared the vehicle, however, a blur of green and black suddenly shot out from the _Tortuga_, causing Martin to falter in the air and stop.

"Chris?" he called to the other curiously.

The younger Kratt didn't seem to hear him as he flew higher in the air, higher above even Martin's position. Then he swooped back down, wings tucked in to rocket through the sky.

At first, Martin watched in confusion, wondering what his brother was doing. It wasn't until Chris' descent drew closer and closer, that he noticed Chris was in an attacking stoop…and that _he _was the target.

"Whoa!" he said as he dodged the missile that was his brother; he felt his feathers ruffle from the breeze as Chris sped past him. "Chris! Wh-what do you think you're _doing_?"

Chris didn't answer and simply spread his wings, catching the air and rising from the stoop. As the younger brother twisted in the air and looped back around, Martin gasped when he finally realized – too late – that the other was doing a swoop-under-talon-grab.

With sharp talons stretched out towards him, Martin quickly grabbed Chris with his own to protect himself; claws locked, Chris suddenly lunged towards Martin, swiping at him with his sharp beak helmet. Martin flapped his wings, both to put as much distance as he could between them, and to keep them aloft as they began to tumble through the air.

"Chris!" Martin exclaimed, surprised by how much strength the other was attacking with. "Chris, what's going on?"

The only reply his younger brother gave was a piercing falcon shriek; a noise that wasn't in Chris' voice at all, like it would be sometimes when they were playing around and imitating animal noises. It was a _real_ falcon cry, generated from the information of the peregrine falcon disc that powered their suits, provided by the falcon's DNA.

That in and of itself wouldn't have been so alarming – there were instances when they would use the actual sounds produced by the animals, instead of trying to imitate the sounds themselves. But the natural cry of the falcon mixed with the…chillingly_ hollow_ look in Chris' normally bright eyes twisted Martin's stomach into deeper knots with the reality that something terrible was going on.

He dodged as Chris took another strike at him, but at such close range it was difficult to avoid the assault. And Chris was attacking with his all, fighting with all the ferocity of a real falcon protecting his territory. But even knowing that Chris wasn't holding back…Martin just couldn't bring himself to do the same.

Because…Because this was _Chris_, his little brother, who he had just gotten back…he couldn't bring himself to _hurt_ Chris, especially since he knew something else was happening. Because he knew…he knew that Chris would just _never_ do something like this!

"Chris!" he tried again, pleading. "Chris, what's _wrong_? Talk to me!"

Chris only gave another sharp screech, lashing once again at him with his beak. In Martin's reluctance to fight back, he wasn't able to dodge in time; the sharp curve caught his wing, slicing not only the feathers off the wing, but through the suit itself. The notched hook left a deep gash along the flesh underneath the suit, and Martin cried out as a jolt of pain erupted through his arm.

They flipped in the air again, and when Martin was under Chris, the younger one opened his talons and released him. Martin gasped; instinctively he tried beating his wings, but the sting in his injured wing prevented its usage. No amount of desperate fluttering with just one wing would keep him airborne, and he found himself swiftly approaching the ground.

"Chris!" he called in one last attempt to snap the other out of it. "Chris!"

But his younger brother remained high in the air, simply watching as he fell. It was the last thing he saw before the rough catch of tree branches encased his vision.

* * *

><p>Zach cackled as he watched the scene on his monitor. "Well, that went a <em>lot<em> better than I expected," he muttered to himself.

As he continued observing the screen, he noticed that bird-Chris was still hovering in the air, looking down at the spot where Martin had disappeared. Then he shifted, looking ready to dive down towards the trees.

He pressed a button on his consol and spoke into a nearby microphone, "No."

Bird-Chris stopped in mid-air, flapping his wings to bring himself back up.

"Just leave him," he commanded. "Even if he survives that, he won't be much of a problem. Just get back to the jet…_now_."

Bird-Chris seemed to hesitate, but only for a moment before changing course and flying in the direction of the jet. Seeing his orders being obeyed, Zach sat back in his chair with a sinister grin.

"Yes, this is perfect," he said. "I could _definitely_ get used to this…"

_TBC_


End file.
